Corruption: A Timeless Tale

June 27, 2004|By CAROL W. LEWIS Carol W. Lewis is a professor of political science at the University of Connecticut. This essay was adapted from a book she is writing with Stuart Gilman, ``The Ethics Challenge in Public Service: A Problem-Solving Guide,'' 2nd ed. (Jossey-Bass, 2005).

Why does corruption capture the headlines and dominate politics in Connecticut today, when corruption in government is such an old story?

If it were new, we would not read this in Deuteronomy 16:18-20: ``You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes ... and they shall govern the people with due justice. You shall not judge unfairly; you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes. ... Justice, justice shall you pursue.''

More evidence of corruption's durability comes from ancient Athens, whose citizens pledged, ``We will never bring disgrace to this, our city, by any act of dishonesty or cowardice.''

One keystone of our legal system, the Magna Carta, stipulates, ``To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or justice.'' And this is the point precisely: Corruption undermines justice in principle, in fact and in the public's perception of its government.

Again: If it is not new, why is corruption now newsworthy?

One answer is that it suddenly appears more systemic and at a higher level than the public knew. On the scandal sheet over the past decade we find a former state treasurer, public works employees, transportation officials, senior staff in the governor's office and mayors in our major cities. An abbreviated list of offenses includes bribery, influence peddling, and apparent violations of contract procedures and the state gift ban. We discover a culture of corruption in our state and local government, and this discovery is greeted with outrage. The public's reaction is detailed in Gov. John G. Rowland's sinking honesty and job-performance ratings in polls reported in The Courant.

This outrage surely is another part of the answer as to why corruption rates headlines. Here in Connecticut, we have long flattered ourselves as being above reproach in comparisons with Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Louisiana. But now we are betrayed. We are victims of corruption, and the cost is more than state dollars -- it is our confidence and trust in our state government.

Politicians and pundits across the country deplore the damage done by ethical lapses to the trust deemed fundamental to a democratic political system. National polls have long asked, ``What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?'' From 1990 through spring 2004, usually less than 10 percent of respondents answered with some variant of moral decline, dishonesty, lack of integrity. Given the circumstances surrounding presidential impeachment, it is not surprising that responses peaked in excess of 15 percent in 1998. These data suggest that, when the noise of scandal subsides, our attention will turn to business as usual, meaning jobs, prices, national security. Attention to corruption is scandal-driven and short-lived.

Public corruption is newsworthy and our attention short-lived because corruption is in fact uncommon in the United States' more than 87,000 state and local governments. From 1980 to 2001, the number of state officials indicted for corruption in public office -- a federal crime -- increased from 72 to 95 individuals; indictments of local officials declined by about 9 percent, to 224.

When our attention is once again diverted, what can we do to prevent systemic, high-level corruption? The answer relies in great measure on constitutional checks and balances among the branches of government. The impeachment hearings and governor's resignation, sad as they are, nonetheless demonstrate that our constitutional system works to counteract low ethics in high places.

Arguing in support of the Constitution, James Madison cautioned in Federalist Paper No. 51, ``If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. ... A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.'' So we also rely on robust, independent watchdog institutions such as state ethics boards and campaign finance commissions. The latter need strengthening and deserve our support. We depend on their independence, strength and expert staffs to combat corruption so ancient and durable that its reappearance is a sure thing.

If we so depend on institutions, then, in the words of another ancient, Juvenal, ``Who guards the guardians?'' This is the citizen's responsibility in a democracy: to demand accountability, hold leaders' feet to the electoral fire, clamor that the link between government and justice remain uncorrupted, and refuse to tolerate the sacrifice of public interest to personal or political gain. We in Connecticut are reminded by recent events that this responsibility cannot be transferred, delegated or forgotten.